The present invention relates to a lock structure for a door panel, in particular, to the lock structure for a hinged door panel mounted on a back panel which separates a passenger compartment and a cargo bed of a vehicle.
The present application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-394964.
In response to the diversification of consumers' needs, car manufacturers have produced more and more car-based pickup trucks and car- or truck-based sport utility vehicles (SUVs) in recent years, as these vehicles offer both the practicality of trucks with a large cargo capacity and a comfortability of passenger cars. Some of these pickup trucks are provided with an opening with the hinged door panel in the back panel which separates the passenger compartment and the cargo bed. Whenever it is necessary, the rear seats are folded down, and the door panel is pushed forward, i.e., toward the passenger compartment to open the opening, so that more space can be used for loading cargo.
A door through which the passenger gets on and off a vehicle is usually provided with a lock mechanism (latch assembly) on a side of the door, and a striker on a door opening portion of a vehicle body. When the door is closed, the striker is engaged with the lock mechanism. Assuming that such a mechanism is used in the case of the door panel, that is, the lock mechanism is mounted on the side of the door panel, and the striker is on the side of the back panel, the thickness of the door panel is increased, so that not only the space of the passenger compartment may be reduced, but also an undesirable effect may be produced on the design of the door panel and/or the rear seat, namely, the free design of the entire vehicle may be restricted.
In addition, when the door panel is released in the lock condition with the back panel, it is designed to fall down forward. Therefore, the user is forced to support the door panel so as not to suddenly bring it down at the same time as releasing the lock condition, namely, that increases a user's load.